Upcoming The New Yorker cover art by Barry Blitt (via @NewYorker)

As an embattled mayor faces off against stubborn police unions and the City Council revisits police reform, New Yorkers are gearing up to march in the streets for what looks like the most significant celebration of the legacy of civil rights activism in the country in years. The annual Martin Luther King holiday comes this year at an especially pregnant moment in New York City and elsewhere. The holiday itself and days surrounding it will include a great deal of action around today's major civil rights issues, especially that of criminal justice reform.

Outrage against racial injustice has become widespread in the last few months and the dialogue over inequality and discrimination, especially in law enforcement, has gripped the entire nation. A movement that began to steam after the July death of Staten Island resident Eric Garner at the hands of an NYPD officer has been boiling over in the face of events across the country, including in Ferguson and Cleveland, and the lack of a grand jury indictment against Daniel Pantaleo, the officer shown on video with his arm around Garner's neck.

Activists, community organizers, scholars, and elected representatives are commemorating the best-known American champion of civil rights and racial equality, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as numerous protests and panels planned over the next several days call attention to issues of racial injustice not only in New York City, but across the nation.

Things are especially tense in New York after Garner's death, the Pantaleo decision and resulting protests, and the killing of two police officers on Dec. 20. Thousands have protested in the streets and angry words have been hurled, at times by some protesters and regularly by police union leaders. It is a time when, according to a new poll, 46 percent of New York City voters say race relations are "good" and 45 percent say they are "bad."

Mayor Bill de Blasio has sought to quell controversy and his Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has taken to dozens of media appearances as middle man. Meanwhile, as they gear up for a major MLK Day march, activists say that their demands have not changed, but that a period of calm was appropriate after Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were killed.

What is unclear is what renewed protest activity will look like and what the NYPD response will be. Throughout most of December, the city saw minimal violence, property damage, and arrest totals despite nightly protests, which often shut down busy roadways.

Along with protests, New York City will see a variety of panel discussions and commemorations of Dr. King's legacy. All should take on special poignancy this year.

"The conversations around this are highlighting the fact that the country is segregated, physically and mentally," said Christina Greer, Professor of Political Science at Fordham University, and author of Black Ethnics. "Martin Luther King Day is more important than ever. Dr. King's work has advanced, but his work is not over," she added.

Greer sees the movement as an expression of a disaffected public which responds to incidents such as the Garner case, but fails to choose effective leaders to represent their interests. "You can't have democracy without active citizens," she said.

In this atmosphere of growing outrage, Martin Luther King Day is particularly important this year, according to Glenn Martin, founder and executive director of JustLeadershipUSA.

"More and more people are understanding how the criminal justice system has eroded the gains of the civil rights movement and Dr. King would have been embarrassed that we allowed this," he said.

Martin criticized the militarization of police departments and over-policing, and cited incarceration statistics to argue that more black men are disenfranchised now than when Dr. King was alive (King was assassinated in 1968). The criminal justice system, he believes, has become an instrument of control over poor people and people of color.

The most interesting aspects of the current movement, Martin said, is that there is no identifiable leadership, which gives the movement longevity. "It's hard to chop off the head when you don't know who it is," he said. He lauded the participation of many more young people, particularly white people, and the use of technology - such as the video of Eric Garner's death - which has long-lasting resonance beyond the geographical boundaries of New York, even the United States.

The protests have indeed sprung up from various quarters and no one organization has spearheaded the movement.

"A real movement is never a single organization," said Alex Vitale, Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College who focuses on urban politics, policing, and social movements. "The Civil Rights Movement wasn't; the anti-war movement wasn't. There will be conflict at times but also convergences and coalitions on certain issues."

Looking at it as a "decentralized movement with very loose coordination," Vitale nevertheless believes the mayor will not be able to sit idly by and wait for the protests to subside. He states that the trend of younger people coming out nationally under the a new generation of leaders of color started with the killing of Trayvon Martin and subsequent case. "But it didn't become a sustained movement," he said. And Vitale predicts over the next few days that there will be a return of significant protest activities which might carry momentum forward through spring.

A flurry of activity is indeed set to occur. On Saturday, This Stops Today, an activist coalition led by Communities United for Police Reform, will hold die-ins in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx to mark six months since the day of Eric Garner's death.

Justice League NYC, another coalition of reform and advocacy groups is also leading action. They are massing protesters under the banner #DREAM4JUSTICE to march on Martin Luther King Day, beginning in Harlem. Representatives from the Justice League met with Mayor de Blasio on December 19.

Michael Skolnik, political director for Russell Simmons and president of GlobalGrind.com, is a board member of the Justice League. He said, "Dr. King in his legacy was someone who has been remembered as a peaceful warrior who came up against an incredible amount of opposition but never wavered. There are so many young people, also peaceful warriors, who are coming against opposition for a more just society on the whole and a just city."

Citing the release of the movie "Selma," Skolnik said the movement is connected to the historic struggle from the civil rights era, and is marked by an inspiring activism toward improving race relations in the city. "As individuals, we wake up everyday wanting to be better," he said. "Collectively as a city, that's the spirit in which we march."

This spirit and energy are reminiscent. "There's nothing new under the sun," said Bronx City Council Member Andy King, quoting the Book of Ecclesiastes from the Old Testament. He said a similar sentiment fueled by frustration and anger against institutionalized bigotry defined the civil rights struggle, and now, "We're reliving a play with different players."

King believes that the current climate shows that, in ways, society has taken steps backward and that the movement is necessary to advance the cause of racial equality. He said, "In the words of the great Frederick Douglass, 'If there is no struggle, there is no progress.'"

Honoring Dr. King's birthday on Wednesday, Council Member King presented a City Council proclamation to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Health Center in the Bronx, at its first annual celebration of the activist's life.

"It's where it all started. Being the namesake of Dr. King, it's only right that we acknowledge and recognize their commitment to serving those who have and those who do not have," King said.

The march on Monday is expected to be largely led by a younger generation. "This time it's more than a routinized commemoration of the past and more about what we have to do right now as Dr. King's legacy of equality and human rights is in the forefront of people's minds," said writer-activist Marlon Peterson, a leader of Justice League NYC. But the march, he said, is simply one of many fronts. Actions will propel the movement and initiate the conversations necessary to bring about "not just incremental change in policy, but groundbreaking and precedent-setting in nature."

But Dante Barry, director of the Million Hoodies Movement for Justice, believes the movement is in its "infancy" and that people want to rush progress. The persistent tactics of die-ins and marches are the heart of the movement, he says, and meant to grab people's attention for what is to come. "(These methods) keep people active and engaged. And we're going to see more and more people getting agitated, mad and frustrated, and they'll want to do something about it."

What defines this current movement is again the aim of transforming a power structure. "We're challenging people to think about what the world looks like when black lives matter. That's a conversation we haven't had yet," Barry said.

In keeping with Dr. King's legacy, the movement is non-violent, it's leaders say. New Yorkers who have borne the brunt of policies such as Broken Windows and stop-and-frisk are not responding with aggressive action. "We've seen social movements across the country and the globe that have used nonviolence to uplift people from oppression," said Barry. "It's been a successful tactic and I think it will continue in this movement. The protests, the demonstrations, have been principled and non-violent."

The oft-repeated refrain is the criticism of a criminal justice system in desperate need of reform - not individuals in positions of power but the bastions of power themselves. There are those who support Mayor de Blasio and those who criticize him, but they all agree that the problem is systemic. Political leaders do, of course, have say over the system.

JustLeadershipUSA's Martin critiqued the Mayor for "waffling" on issues of police reform, but stressed that focusing on one person, either the Mayor, Police Commissioner or even the Staten Island District Attorney, for instance, detracts attention from a biased system that doesn't work. "People don't change institutions. Institutions change people first," he said. "Law enforcement has grown into a behemoth of a system with its own momentum and no one in the driver's seat. It's the system that gets away with murder, not individuals."

Vitale similarly said that what started as narrow anger towards a policing system eventually evolved into a broader issue of racial injustice revolving around the entire criminal injustice system. Stop-and-frisk, he said, was initially a policing issue which became a civil rights issue. "That's when it became politically untenable for the police."

As many plan to take to the streets over the next several days and beyond, activists and other interested parties will be watching Governor Andrew Cuomo's major speech on Wednesday in Albany. The governor has promised to take up criminal justice reform in 2015 and is likely to discuss at least his general plans and goals on the subject during his combined budget presentation and State of the State Address.

In New York City, many are eager to witness Mayor de Blasio commemorating the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and what he might say about racial equity and criminal justice. De Blasio is set to give remarks at both the annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. King at BAM and at the annual National Action Network policy forum in King's name. The latter is especially fraught, of course, because it is Rev. Al Sharpton's organization and de Blasio's allegiance with Sharpton has been a major sticking point for police union leaders and others. 

Along with aforementioned protest actions planned for Saturday and Monday, a series of civic events will be taking place around the city, including WNYC's annual commemoration at the Apollo Theater on Sunday and the annual BAM event on Monday. On Sunday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a former police officer, is hosting a town hall on "improving police-community relations" and on Tuesday evening, the Manhattan Young Democrats is hosting a "non-partisan" panel event including Adams, Greer, Skolnik, Martin, and others "which seeks to address the administration of fair and equal justice."

With a Martin Luther King Jr.-like eye on ensuring that action accompanies talk, the event is said to be "an opportunity to learn about what we can do to tackle racial injustice."

Just after that on Tuesday evening will be President Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union Address.

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by Samar Khurshid, Gotham Gazette
@SamarKhurshid

Note: this article has been updated.

Gov. Cuomo gives a pre-State of the State speech (photo: @NYGovCuomo)

Governor Andrew Cuomo's decision to combine his 2015 State of the State Address and budget presentation appears to be a move that will play to the governor's strengths. Not only should what he's calling his 2015 New York State of Opportunity Agenda showcase the governor's skills as a public speaker, but it should also work to his advantage at the negotiating table.

Cuomo's past State of the State addresses show a governor less given to the soaring oratory of his famous father, instead comfortable with boardroom-like pep talks built around carefully-designed PowerPoint presentations. Combining his budget presentation and policy agenda could very well allow Cuomo to tightly connect his platform - which, based on history, could very well be passed in large part through the budget anyway.

Cuomo has displayed a willingness to do away with tradition to fit his own style - in 2011, his first year in office, he began holding his State of the State in the Empire State Plaza Convention Center, rather than in the Assembly Chamber like his predecessors. Many legislators took it as a sign of disrespect, others took it as a message that Cuomo would be playing by his own rules, setting his own agenda.

Cuomo has won many of his major State of the State proposals in his first four years as Governor, and he has at times been rebuffed by the Legislature and walked away from high-profile policy proposals. At other times the governor has abandoned his own ideas seemingly because they no longer served him politically.

This year, Cuomo comes into his major January speech walking his usual tightrope, governing as both a fiscal moderate and social liberal - a dichotomy the governor himself boasts of, even using the word conservative to describe his economics. Cuomo has made his legacy on that dichotomy, which has led to many compromises, returning New York to sound fiscal footing, and a fair share of both praise and consternation as he often leaves many pleased and no one pleased.

As Cuomo gets set to take the stage next week, a review of his first four State of the State Addresses shows the types of initiatives the governor has prioritized, where he has been successful and where he has not, and several themes that are sure to inform the speech and path ahead.

Compromise will surely be necessary again this year as Cuomo works with a Democratically-controlled Assembly and a Republican-controlled Senate. Governing from the middle with occasional leaps to the left and to the right is where Cuomo appears comfortable. How much he can convince Senate Republicans to let him leap left is important to watch, especially as they harbor resentment toward New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and note that some of their former colleagues who lept with Cuomo on marriage equality and the SAFE Act are no longer in office.

But this year, unlike in the past, Cuomo has a serious pot sweetener: over $5 billion in settlement cash that a number of legislators hope will be used for infrastructure improvements across the state - or, more specifically, in their districts.

It is a safe bet that Cuomo's 2015 address will feature some more-than-familiar moments to those who've watched the speeches of years past.

In each of his State of the State speeches Cuomo has used the capitol building as a metaphor for something that was once glorious and can be restored; he has said he wants to re-establish New York "the progressive capital of the nation"; he has touted the number of on-time budgets he and the legislature have delivered (this year he'll say four in a row and counting); he has demanded more teacher accountability but explained new changes he's seeking; and, he has stressed a need for ethics rules overhaul and campaign finance reform while mentioning unsavory headlines.

A closer year-by-year look at Cuomo's past State of the State addresses and major proposals therein:

2011
In a cold, impersonal convention center, backed by a large video screen Cuomo gave his first State of the State, and announced: "We need radical reform, we need a new approach, we need a new perspective, And we need it now."

Cuomo went on to attribute the state's $10 billion deficit to chronic overspending by the Legislature and announced a number of fiscal austerity measures, including a salary freeze on public workers and drastically cutting Medicaid spending. He also pushed for a property tax cap.

He further announced that he wanted increased accountability in education, with school funding based on performance.

Cuomo said that the notion that the Legislature is corrupt is an "aberration" and proposed full disclosure of outside income by legislators and public financing of campaigns. Both those things are still on Cuomo's agenda today, but face extreme opposition from legislative leaders. However, in June 2011 Cuomo reached a deal with the Legislature that started a new ethics body - the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) - and passed a law to require stricter disclosure on legislators' outside income.

Promising to return New York to the "progressive capital" of the nation Cuomo announced his backing of marriage equality. The bill would pass the state Senate in June and become law in July of 2011. By many, it is still seen as the governor's crowning achievement.

With juvenile offenders having a recidivism rate of 90 percent Cuomo pushed for major reforms to the justice system, including focusing on alternative punishment and treatment. He also famously said, "An incarceration program is not an employment program," something that deeply worried upstate legislators who represent districts where prisons had been the major employer. Cuomo noted that the state had many empty prison beds throughout and went on to shutter seven prisons across New York. Not all of them were in the most obvious locations upstate, two were in New York City. Still the move upset many Republicans.

2012
Cuomo took his time in 2012 to relish in his major early victories, which included marriage equality, ethics reform, closing the $10 billion deficit, establishing regional economic development councils, renewing rent laws, and eliminating nearly 4,000 prison beds.

The fresh proposals Cuomo outlined in 2012 did not turn out to be as easy to deliver on as 2011's.

Cuomo led off by proposing the "nations largest convention center" in Queens. The idea came out of left field for most observers. The New York Times later reported that Malaysian casino operator Genting proposed the idea to Cuomo at a fundraiser in Westchester. Genting also made major donations to the Committee to Save New York - a group formed at Cuomo's urging to back his agenda.

Plans for the convention center were eventually scrapped.

However, Cuomo did announce some of what became signature issues, including $1 billion in development funds for Buffalo, allowing casinos across the state, and creating a DNA database for anyone convicted of a felony or misdemeanor.

Cuomo also famously doubled down on tying education funding to performance and pushing for greater teacher accountability, saying: "l learned that everyone in public education has his or her own lobbyist. Superintendents have lobbyists. Principals have lobbyists. Teachers have lobbyists. School boards have lobbyists. Maintenance personnel have lobbyists. Bus drivers have lobbyists.The only group without a lobbyist? The students. Well, I learned my lesson. This year, I will take a second job - consider me the lobbyist for the students."

Cuomo is still pursuing these education goals, though he's made some slight progress toward them.

The governor was not able to deliver on his push for campaign finance reform or for legislative district lines being drawn through an independent process. Nor was he able to successfully push for the Reproductive Health Protection Act which eventually became (and remains) the most controversial plank of the Women's Equality Agenda.

Cuomo mentioned hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the Southern Tier only to say the Department of Environmental Conservation was still conducting its review.

2013
Cuomo's third State of the State contained a number of highs and lows for the governor. The speech came shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and Cuomo focused on his seven-point SAFE Act that featured the toughest assault weapon ban in the nation, required more stringent background checks for gun sales, and banned direct ammo sales over the internet. The Legislature moved to pass the bill only days later.

Cuomo was also able to deliver on his promise to set a path toward increasing the minimum wage. Progressives pushed for a much more significant bump, but what they got in the end was a staggered increase to $9.00 an hour by December 2015.

The governor's 10-point Women's Equality Act proved much more divisive. "Maybe its a man's world, but it is not a man's world in New York. Not anymore," Cuomo said after unveiling the agenda that included protections for domestic violence victims, greater penalties for human trafficking, and a measure that would make Roe v. Wade part of New York law. "We are going to pass this Women's Equality Act. We are going to change the lives for my daughters and your daughters and your sisters and your nieces and your wife..." Cuomo said with a fervor absent from most of his public speaking. And yet the act remains contentious in Albany because Senate Republicans refuse to act on the abortion plank and the Assembly refuses to act on the rest without it. Cuomo created the Women's Equality Party last year to push the agenda, not being able to move it this year could prove embarrassing.

Another item Cuomo was unable to deliver on was his promise to reduce penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana."There is a challenge posed by the stop and frisk police policies." Cuomo said, noting that marijuana arrests make it hard for people to find jobs and get into college. Cuomo was challenging a major policy of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who he had a contentious relationship with. The Legislature resisted and later Cuomo said that the city had addressed stop-and-frisk on its own, making State action unecessary.

On education, Cuomo lamented what New York gets for its investment. He called for longer school days and universal pre-kindergarten, as well as again calling for tougher teacher evaluations and suggesting performance bonuses.

2014
Cuomo's first election-year State of the State lacked some of the big ideas of previous addresses and focused heavily on taxes and the upstate economy.

On infrastructure, Cuomo stressed the need for a new Tappan Zee Bridge and proposed renovations of JFK and LaGuardia Airports. He also discussed preparing for extreme weather events and "hardening our transit system."

Cuomo touted the need for the Moreland Commission to clean up corruption in Albany, saying: "The argument by some members of the Legislature is that we created JCOPE and that should solve the problem. But there has been a string of bad acts, almost on a daily basis. Open up the newspaper, even today, and you see more and more stories of individual legislators who have done bad acts. And it reflects poorly on all of us, because people don't distinguish: it's an Assemblyman, it's a Senator, it's a Democrat, it's a Republican - it's just a politician."

Cuomo cut a deal to shutter the commission a few months later. It was also revealed his office played a hand in crippling investigations.

This Year
The Cuomo balancing act has caused a few bumps in the road for him of late. Although he ran on several progressive issues and said he supported a Democratic Senate, he faced major backlash from his Democratic base on fiscal issues and is working with a Senate that is still controlled by Republicans unlikely to let him veer very far left.

Senate Republicans are seemingly unwilling to address most of the progressive issues touted by Cuomo's left-leaning constituents, such as campaign finance reform, a further minimum wage increase and control by localities, and the abortion plank of the Women's Equality Agenda. Rent laws governing New York City will be of special significance this year.

Republicans are angry that Mayor Bill de Blasio led a major effort to unseat them (with the less-than-enthusiastic help of Cuomo). But more than being angry, some Republicans are extremely hesitant to stick their necks out for Cuomo because they or their colleagues have taken serious lumps from constituents over support for same-sex marriage and the SAFE Act, two signature first-term, liberal Cuomo accomplishments. All four GOP members who voted for same-sex marriage after lobbying from Cuomo and his allies have lost their seats.

The SAFE Act came to a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate and passed with the help of a number of prominent Republican votes. It was a major issue upstate during the 2014 gubernatorial and legislative contests.

As always, what might be palatable this year will largely depend on what is being offered in exchange.

[Read our detailed preview of the governor's State of the State/budget presentation speech, which includes a look at key aspects of his "Opportunity Agenda" that he has unveiled in the week prior to the speech]

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by David King, Albany editor, Gotham Gazette
@DavidHowardKing

Research contributed by Jarad Sassone-McHugh

Dan Donovan, left, with Errol Louis on the NY1 set (photo: @InsideCityHall)

Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, a Republican, is running for Congress and widely considered the favorite no matter who the Democrats nominate to face him in an upcoming special election. If Donovan wins that contest in New York's 11th Congressional District, what will happen to his DA seat?

Donovan, who presented the grand jury case against Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the killing of Eric Garner, is already in a re-election year. So, there will be a vote for Richmond County (as Staten Island is also known) District Attorney in November 2015 no matter what. The question is: will Dan Donovan be on the ballot? It is far too early to tell, but with Donovan seen as difficult for any Democrat to beat in the race to replace disgraced former Congressman Michael Grimm, there are several key moving parts to be aware of.

Experts say Governor Andrew Cuomo will likely set the special congressional election for the spring. On Wednesday at an unrelated event the governor told reporters he had no timetable for calling the election.

Whenever it happens, if Donovan wins the NY-11 special, he will have to vacate his position as District Attorney. Donovan is an accomplished prosecutor with an impressive resume, but is facing a storm of criticism over the lack of indictment from the Pantaleo grand jury. On the Republican-heavy borough of Staten Island, though, many are supportive of the grand jury decision. The congressional district encompasses all of Staten Island and part of Southern Brooklyn.

There has been little attention paid to or indication of who would run for DA if Donovan should step down.

Matthew Smalls, a Democrat from from Staten Island's North Shore, announced on Monday that he is running for the DA seat. He has previously served in Manhattan as Assistant District Attorney under the former DA Robert M. Morgenthau. Attacking Donovan's record in a statement he released to the press, he stated in part, "Donovan hid while New York City grappled with the aftermath of his incompetence. And now, like a true politician, he is leaving his mess for someone else to deal with."

Tom Shcherbenko, president of the Staten Island Democratic Association, has come out in support of Smalls, who looks to be the only Democratic contender so far. "I haven't heard of anyone else, besides (Smalls) setting up a committee yet," said Shcherbenko.

Republicans have also not specified if they have anyone waiting in the wings to replace Donovan, but political watchers seem to think that State Senator Andrew Lanza is primed for the position. Lanza, a lawyer from Staten Island, has the name recognition to be a strong candidate, plus a resume including service in the Manhattan DA's office and on the City Council..

Should Donovan be elected to Congress, the Governor will appoint an interim DA for the remainder of his term. The Governor is required by law to announce a special election for Grimm's seat and an announcement in this regard should not be too far off, though Cuomo may wait until after his Jan. 21 budget address and State of the State speech. During a Wednesday evening appearance on NY1, Donovan said he expects an announcement from the governor sometime after the speech.

There is speculation that Cuomo may call it to coincide with the District Attorney and other elections of 2015, which would be the most cost-efficient for the state. "There is talk that he might call it on primary day," said consultant Jerry Skurnik of Prime New York. In that case, Donovan would be unable to run and the Democrats might have a better chance at the DA seat, Skurnik said. "Without Donovan running, it's not impossible for Democrats to win the seat."

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by Samar Khurshid, Gotham Gazette
@SamarKhurshid

Council Member Garodnick at press conference (photo: William Alatriste)

The City Council's Committee on Economic Development will hold an oversight hearing later this month to discuss plans for the redevelopment of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park.

The redevelopment of the industrial site recently became a bone of contention between the de Blasio administration and City Council Member Carlos Menchaca, whose district encompasses Sunset Park. The Mayor's Economic Development Corporation (EDC) withdrew a $115 million proposal to revamp the Terminal after it claimed Menchaca was making unreasonable demands about control of the 88-acre project.

The hearing, which will be held by the Council's Economic Development Committee, will be chaired by Council Member Dan Garodnick and take place on January 27. In a Wednesday press release Garodnick said, "We will work with Council Member Menchaca, EDC, and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that the plan for Sunset Park is primed for job growth in the context of a plan that addresses local concerns."

EDC spokesperson Ian Fried confirmed to Gotham Gazette that EDC will be testifying at the hearing. Fried added, "Good manufacturing jobs are at the top of our agenda, and we remain committed to finding a path forward that brings them to Sunset Park."

The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal site, built in the 1960s, was used primarily for handling marine cargo but has been inactive for nearly two decades. In recent years, the NYPD utilized the facility as a towing yard. In 2009, the City released its Sunset Park Vision Plan and proposed to improve the existing infrastructure in Sunset Park and connect the site to the national rail network. (The Bush Terminal Piers Park was completed in 2013 under this program).

Council Member Menchaca took to Facebook last week, after negotiations failed, to voice his concerns. He claimed that he requested the EDC withdraw its plan for a 49-year lease on the development since there had been no inclusion of the community in the decision-making. Criticizing the EDC for rushing through the process, he wrote, "I made it clear to the EDC that our community deserves better. Their request was made less than 45 days ago and required a council action today, leaving out meaningful community dialogue during a hectic holiday season."

One of his demands is that a community board or special development corporation be allowed control over the terminal and that the City Council play a part in deciding the lease, rather than hand over absolute control to the EDC. A similar arrangement exists in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. A member of the Council's Progressive Caucus, Menchaca has been a staunch supporter of the mayor, but he took a strong position against the administration in this issue. The Council Member's office declined a request for comment.

But, in the statement released by Garodnick's office, Menchaca's stance was softer. "Creating good jobs for local residents, attracting relevant and responsible industry, and appropriate investment in local community amenities are shared goals of this Council, the de Blasio administration, and community stakeholders. I look forward to studying the intersections of those goals more carefully," Menchaca said.

Currently, the SBMT space is occupied by the Sims Municipal Recycling Facility, which was completed in 2013. The remaining area was leased in 2007 to the Axis Group which planned to use the port for manufacturing and shipping automobiles. But, Axis filed for bankruptcy in 2012 forcing the EDC to revise its plans for the terminal.

Kyle Kimball, President of the EDC, told Crain's New York last week that Menchaca's actions were obstructionist and would cost his district jobs. The project, according to the EDC, calls for "reactivation of maritime service specializing in handling automobiles and other roll-on/roll-off cargoes." It would create more than 250 new jobs, they project.

In the Wednesday press release Garodnick said of the need for the Jan. 27 hearing, "There are significant economic development and community issues at play here, and we need to get it right."

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by Samar Khurshid, Gotham Gazette
@SamarKhurshid

Note: this article has been updated with comment from EDC.

An MTA bus (photo: MTA website)

Few things are more annoying than waiting for a bus when the weather isn't good. You're cold, you're wet, and the bus schedule said it would arrive at 9:05. It's 9:21. Where's your bus?

Technological advancements have given New York City straphangers some relief with the Real-Time Bus app, which allows users to see how far away their bus actually is. More recently, a collection of city council members used discretionary funding toward more countdown clocks for additional bus stops, an especially useful tool for those without smartphones.

But what if your bus is always late? Sure, it's good to know how long you will have to wait (and maybe have time to grab a cup of coffee nearby to warm up) - but is anyone actually doing anything about it?

When Council Member Ben Kallos took office in 2014, he said slow or unreliable bus service was among his constituents' chief complaints. Kallos' district spans much of the Upper East Side and includes bus-heavy 1st and 2nd Avenues. The new council member began forwarding complaints to the MTA, but wasn't finding the relief he or his constituents were looking for.

Also a software developer, Council Member Kallos decided to see if the MTA provided data so he could see exactly which buses were consistently late and by how much. With that kind of solid data Kallos felt that he could then dive into the why, especially given his platform as an elected official.

"It is about being able to see systemic problems and being able to hold the MTA more accountable," Kallos said in a phone interview on Monday.

The MTA provided real-time data on buses, but no archival data. Kallos knew he had the skills to build a piece of software needed to turn the Bus Time data into archival data, but as has been the case since he took office a year ago, he realized his time for building software is limited. So he reached out to BetaNYC, a robust civic hacking community which for years has been taking city data and making useful apps and software.

Nathan Johnson, a software developer, heeded the call at a May BetaNYC event called CityCamp NYC. He began to work on a project that would take the real time bus data and turn it into archival data that he and others could analyze to find out exactly how often buses are early, on-time, or late.

The MTA, one of the few government agencies eager to give its data to civic technologists to build apps, agreed to help ease the process by releasing three months (August through October 2014) of archival Bus Time data for the latest Apps Quest competition.

Johnson took that data and built a web page showing the percentage of early, on-time, and late buses for each route in the city. So far the site shows September and October, but Johnson said in a phone interview he hopes to have an app complete to submit by the February 3 App Quest deadline.

The success of the project has made Kallos hungry for more data. On Monday he submitted a letter to the MTA requesting the release of archival bus data with greater frequency. Kallos argues the archival bus time data could help policy makers help solve a critical transportation issue in the city.

"We will be able to pull this data, look at how many buses are late, how many are on time, and how many never show up," Kallos said. "I am going to insist they deliver a quality service every New Yorker can depend on to get where they are going every day."

In addition, Kallos is asking the MTA for (handicap) accessibility information for their buses, bus stops, and subway stations in a machine-readable format, something Johnson hopes to incorporate into his app.

Thus far, the MTA has not released the November or December archival Bus Time data in a raw format, although MTA spokesperson Kevin Ortiz said the data was available in the MTA committee book reports released monthly on its website. He said more data would be released "once it's available," but did not give a specific time table.

"People have been wanting this data for a while," Noel Hidalgo, Co-Founder of BetaNYC, said by phone Monday. "If they have put up some, where is the rest?"

Hidalgo, who is also a civic technologist, noted how helpful historical data can be in determining usage patterns, citing Citi Bike data as a prime example. The City was able to look at peak times and stations for Citi Bike and make adjustments accordingly.

"Buses are this critical infrastructure link and right now people are scared of them because they take so long," Hidalgo said. "If I knew other buses were more consistent, I would add them into my transportation options."

Kallos, who only sent the letter to the MTA on Monday, says he has not gotten a response yet, but hopes the agency will consider his data request.

"Everyone knows bus service is a problem," Kallos said. "It will be nice to finally be able to prove it."

***
by Kristen Meriwether, Gotham Gazette
@MeriwetherK

IDNYC promotion, from Twitter (@IDNYC)

Let the marketing campaign commence. There will be more than two thousand advertisements in three languages across subways, buses, check cashing facilities, laundromats, nail and hair salons. You'll see advertisements in citywide newspapers and community and ethnic papers in numerous languages. Listen for radio ads running in nine languages. All that and watch for a PSA playing in taxis and online featuring Mayor Bill de Blasio, First Lady Chirlane McCray, and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. That's the vast extent of the campaign city officials say will promote the country's largest municipal identification program.

IDNYC, the City's much-awaited, ambitious initiative aimed at providing photo identification to many thousands of New Yorkers, officially launched Monday to much fanfare and a massive marketing initiative. To promote the card, the City is unleashing a $1.8 million outdoor public awareness campaign, coordinated among different city agencies, advocates, and community organizers by a Campaign Outreach Director hired by the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs. Teams of neighborhood organizers are also spreading the word.

In total, the IDNYC program will cost the city approximately $8.4 million in 2015, a city official confirmed. For New Yorkers, the card will be free of charge this year and city officials do not have estimates for how much it might cost next year, though Mayor Bill de Blasio said it would be a small fee as he happily announced the program launch at a Monday press conference in Queens.

Along with the free one-year membership to 33 cultural institutions that comes with the card, the Mayor today announced a host of benefits to appeal to a wide swathe of residents. These include the card's acceptance by ten large financial institutions, including Amalgamated Bank, Carver Federal Savings Bank and Popular Community Bank. The ID will also be integrated with BigAppleRx, the city's prescription drug discount card. Along with these benefits, cardholders will receive discounts on movie and Broadway show tickets, theme parks, sports events, and other discounts at facilities like NYC Parks Recreation Centers, YMCAs, New York Sports Club and Food Bazaar.

These partners and others, such as public libraries, will also be involved in outreach and advertising efforts to boost enrollment.

To call the program a success, the City is hoping to enroll more than one percent of the population. Other cities with similar ID programs have seen an enrollment rate of about one percent, but a city official explained that New York expects to top that figure because of the city's demographics. With New York's diversity, large number of undocumented immigrants, and many residents who don't have a state driver's license because they rely on the city's public transit system, it is well positioned. Add in what the official called "a card program that has the most significant package of benefits nationwide" and there is optimism about higher enrollment than what other cities have seen.

One key feature of the card - a military veteran designation and associated benefits - that the Mayor proudly revealed Monday, will be delayed until later this year.

The media campaign was formulated in consultation with different city agencies to ensure maximum exposure and CUNY's Center for Community and Ethnic Media provided a list of media outlets. Outreach efforts will be "ongoing" the official said, as the program expands with new features.

***
by Samar Khurshid, Gotham Gazette
@SamarKhurshid

Note: This article has been corrected to more accurately capture the role that CUNY's Center for Community and Ethnic Media (CCEM) played in the ID program planning. CCEM was not a strategic partner. 

Mayor de Blasio launching the IDNYC program (photo: @NYCMayorsOffice)

On Monday New York City officially launched its new municipal identification card program, called IDNYC. The new form of ID, which will be accepted by city agencies including the NYPD and some financial institutions, gives a new opportunity to New Yorkers currently unable to get state or federal identification due to immigration or housing status.

During the press conference announcing the roll-out of IDNYC, Mayor Bill de Blasio made special reference to the benefits military veterans would receive with the new ID.

"We want to make sure that every veteran gets all the support and the benefits due to them, so there will be a special veterans designations on this card to help each and every veteran get the benefits they deserve," de Blasio said at the press conference.

But the cards being issued this week will not have a military veteran designation. In fact, the only mention of anything related to veterans on the two-page card application is the use of a military ID as one form of documentation that can be used to apply.

Gotham Gazette reached out to the mayor's press office for clarification and was told the veterans designation will be added "later this year," according to an email from a city official who would only communicate on background. The official said neither a veteran-identifying logo nor a date for availability had yet been determined.

It is unclear at this point how the City will identify veterans for the new ID. Beginning January 1, 1950 the Defense Department issued all veterans a DD214 form upon being discharged (honorably or otherwise). But veterans who deserted their posts (which happened with some frequency during the Vietnam War) did not get DD214 forms. In addition, homeless veterans may no longer have the papers.

It is also unclear if veterans with dishonorable discharges will be allowed veteran status with IDNYC cards. Veterans with dishonorable discharges are not allowed to receive VA medical benefits.

When asked by Gotham Gazette what paperwork veterans would need to identify as a veteran and if dishonorable discharges would be accepted, the city official said, "We will make that information available at the time of designation launch."

The official added the City would be reaching out to the veterans community for input on these issues in the coming months.

***
by Kristen Meriwether, Gotham Gazette
@MeriwetherK

Bowery Mission resident receiving a coat from the New York Cares coat drive (photo: Zehra Rehman)

He calls her his angel. James Macklin was sleeping in a subway train when a woman woke him up in the middle of the night, Dec. 28, 1987. She gave him a slip of paper with information about the Bowery Mission. That piece of paper changed his life.

A few weeks later, Macklin went to the mission, a shelter for homeless men. He had lost his business and become homeless due to a cocaine addiction. He joined the mission's addiction recovery program. After a year of the program, Macklin stayed on and started working there. Almost 27 years later, he is still working at the Bowery Mission. He tried but could never find the woman who had brought him there. Today, Macklin is trying to provide the same opportunity to others in situations like the one he was in when his angel called.

They can be seen on many of New York's streets, bundled up to avoid the elements. While New York City is known as a city of lights and glamor, it is the most populous city in the country and also the city with the largest homeless population. Because of the scale of the problem, in 1993, New York became the first American city to create a department specifically to deal with the issue, the Department of Homeless Services (DHS). Each winter, as the city faces below freezing temperatures, the homeless population struggles to seek shelter, keep warm, and survive. And each winter, the city's activists shift into high gear, and strain under the weight of evermore to do in trying to help homeless New Yorkers survive.

"Everything is magnified by cold weather in the homeless world," said Jeff Foreman, director of policy and advocacy at Care for the Homeless. To help the city's homeless overcome these problems, there are dozens of private and religious organizations, some working in partnership with the city, that provide facilities such as shelters, soup kitchens, food pantries, and clothing banks. Many of these organizations must and do step up their efforts in the critical winter months.

As the weather gets colder, DHS also puts in place a policy called Code Blue, which comes into effect when temperatures fall below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Under Code Blue, the number of DHS outreach vans in the field is increased to check on the street homeless. These outreach teams try to convince those on the street to go into shelters or even bring them involuntarily if a life appears to be at risk due to the cold.

The homeless population of New York City is increasing each year and is at the highest since the Great Depression, according to the advocacy group Coalition for the Homeless. DHS reported that 58,433 people slept in shelters on the night of Jan. 8. The actual number of homeless in the city is much higher as this figure does not include those sleeping in church shelters or shelters designated for veterans, HIV/AIDS patients, or victims of domestic violence, according to Foreman. There are also thousands of unsheltered homeless in the city, the exact number of whom DHS will try to count on Jan. 26 in its annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate. Still, organizations working for the homeless believe that this count underestimates the actual number of unsheltered.

One of the main factors behind the rapid increase in the number of homeless is the lack of affordable housing in New York, according to Gabriela Sandoval, policy analyst at the Coalition for the Homeless. Another contributing factor advocates for the homeless point to is the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg ending programs that provided priority access to public housing. According to Sandoval and Foreman, the Bloomberg administration was concerned that these programs were incentivizing homelessness as people were coming into the shelter system just to get public housing. Once the administration ended these programs, there was a large increase in the homeless population of New York City.

The adult population in homeless shelters increases each winter, according to Sandoval and Foreman. Meanwhile, the city's unsheltered often suffer hypothermia and even death due to exposure to the cold. "As systems get overloaded, the health problems get worse," said Foreman, whose organization provides healthcare exclusively for the homeless. Last winter was particularly severe, leading DHS, under the administration of new Mayor Bill de Blasio, to reinstitute a previous version of the city's Code Blue policy. Under this version of Code Blue, homeless families are provided shelter in any DHS facility without the usual intake process. The return to this version of the policy is "very important" for homeless families as they would no longer have to go through the usual eligibility assessment at a time when the homeless population is "at high risk of having health issues or perishing," Sandoval said.

New York is a "right to shelter" city and is thus obligated to provide shelter to any eligible adult who seeks it. This is the result of a consent decree signed in 1981 to settle Callahan v. Carey, a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Robert Callahan and other homeless men in New York City. Under the judgment, city-run shelters are also required to provide a certain minimum standard of facilities. The consent decree came too late for Robert Callahan, who died while living on the street. However, since then the "right to shelter" has helped many thousands of homeless get access to city shelters.

With this winter expected to be another severe one, city-run and private organizations must take further precautions to protect the vulnerable homeless population. In addition to city-owned and operated shelters, there are many others that the City has contracted to non-profit and for-profit organizations. Some of these shelters only operate in colder weather. There are also smaller shelters across the city that have to meet the increased winter needs of the homeless. Many of those shelters are run by faith-based organizations, such as the Bowery Mission where Macklin is now director of outreach. Once the temperature drops below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the Bowery Mission staff moves tables in the dining hall and pews in the chapel to accommodate around 200 extra men. "It's miserable to have to survive in temperature like this," Macklin said from his own experience.

To accommodate and feed the 200 additional people in winter, the Bowery Mission relies on extra donations around Thanksgiving, according to kitchen manager Trevor Mathura. The donations received during the holiday season help the mission handle the extra demands throughout winter. While the immediate challenge is to help people survive the cold season, Macklin says the mission also tries to find long-term solutions to "pull people out of the cycle of drugs, alcohol and brokenness." Having broken free of that same cycle with the help of the mission, helping others turn their lives around is what Macklin finds most rewarding about his work.

Mary House is another shelter in the Bowery that is dependent on the generosity of donors to help the homeless. Completely run by volunteers and residents, it houses 30 women and serves lunch to an additional 30 homeless women, according to house manager Joanne Kennedy. She says winter is a time when they are "extremely motivated." They provide warm clothing including hats and gloves and sometimes even provide fare for homeless women to sleep on subways rather than have to sleep outdoors in the cold. Kennedy says that they are lucky that the holidays align with the winter season; it is the time when the need is most but also when people's generosity is at its highest. Through careful rationing, they are able to make what supplies they receive between Thanksgiving and Christmas last until the end of winter.

Joan Stevens-Yates became homeless after an illness and the death of her husband. She stays most nights in a city-run shelter but comes to Mary House for lunch, laundry, clothes and other needs. On nights when she is not able to stay in shelters, she sleeps outdoors, such as in bus stations. "Horrible" is the only word she has to describe the experience. "The homeless have it so very hard," she said.

Stevens-Yates finds shelters run by non-profits and faith-based organizations to be much better than those run by the city. "The city shelter system is a monster," she said. Advocates for the homeless and administrators of church shelters have also reported reluctance among the homeless to go to city-run shelters due to problems such as thefts and general lack of security. When contacted, employees at one city-run shelter and two drop-in centers all said they were not allowed to comment or give any information about their facilities. DHS also did not respond to questions by phone or through email.

St. Luke's Lutheran Church, located in the Theatre District, also helps the city's homeless by running a soup kitchen and clothing bank. Despite a spike in the number of donations in the holiday season, Pastor Paul Schmiege says that they do not receive enough clothing to meet the "particularly critical need" for winter clothing and footwear. To supplement donations, the church contacts local hotels and dry cleaners to collect unclaimed clothes and shoes. "You have to be resourceful," said the pastor. St. Luke's also coordinates with other churches and a synagogue in the neighborhood providing similar services. Despite the need for shelters, soup kitchens, and clothing banks, Schmiege described their function as "like going to the doctor and being treated for the symptoms but not treating the cause." He believes that the City needs to work with social services to get people off the streets not just during the winter but for the long term.

While not housing people, one organization that has a program specifically to provide the homeless with warm clothing is New York Cares. For the last 26 winters, the organization has done a coat drive to collect and distribute coats to New York's homeless population. The organization says it has distributed over 1.6 million coats during this time.

This year New York Cares has received a request for over 100,000 coats, according to their executive director Gary Bagley. He says the donated coats represent "warmth and dignity" for their recipients. Retired NBA player Nate "Tiny" Archibald was at the coat drive launch on Nov. 17 and distributed coats to residents of the Bowery Mission. He hopes those coats can help people make it through the winter because "it's all about survival."

Foreman describes the problem of homelessness in New York City as "bad, growing, and it could be a whole lot worse." However, with the change in administrations from Bloomberg to de Blasio, advocates for the homeless are expressing hope, even as numbers continue to rise. Both Coalition for the Homeless and Care for the Homeless have pointed to an improvement in policies under de Blasio, such as a restoration of housing subsidy programs. According to Foreman, "Poor policy decisions created modern day homelessness, so good policies could end it."

While advocates are positive about the new policies, the homeless population is still increasing. According to Foreman, the problem is that measures such as the restoration of housing subsidies are not enough to deal with how great the problem has become. "We're just happy to have a tool, but the problem is that it is not scaled to size," he said.

During harsh New York City winters, the immense challenges of being homeless are exacerbated. Despite any problems there may be in shelters, tens of thousands go each night. The reason, as Stevens-Yates explains it, is simple: "it's warm and that's the most important part."

***
Zehra Rehman is pursuing a graduate degree in Journalism and International Relations at NYU.

DOI Commissioner Peters, right, and IG Philip Eure (photo: @jill_jorgensen)

On Monday, the new Inspector General (IG) for the NYPD is presenting his first report to Mayor Bill de Blasio, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton. The report, authored by Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters and his chosen NYPD IG Philip Eure, deals with "accountability and transparency in substantiated chokehold cases" against NYPD officers. It finds several areas of concern, including that recommendations for punishment of officers found to have used department-banned chokeholds were often not followed by former Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

The report's release comes at a fraught time in mayoral-NYPD relations and amid ongoing controversy around a Staten Island grand jury's decision not to indict Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo, whose chokehold led to Eric Garner's July death. There is also an internal NYPD investigation into Pantaleo's actions, which makes the report all the more relevant. As does the fact that City Council Member Rory Lancman has a bill with 29 sponsors (of a 51-member body) to make NYPD use of a chokehold during an arrest a misdemeanor offense.

Lancman recently told Gotham Gazette that he believes it is time to move forward with a hearing on his bill, which he sees as necessary because the NYPD has not been successful in stopping officers from using chokeholds despite a decades-old ban on their use.

Significantly, the new report from the Department of Investigation and Inspector General also explains three other major areas that the IG's office will be issuing reports on: "patterns of low-level arrests and summonses" (aka Broken Windows policing); "surveillance of religious and political groups," and "police encounters involving people with mental illness." No timetable for these subsequent investigations or reports is given, but it is made clear in the introduction to the chokehold report that the initial wave of work done by the new IG office yielded these four key areas of concern among stakeholders in NYPD practice.

For the IG office's first report, though, Peters and Eure examine what happened in ten recent cases where officers were found to have improperly used force by chokehold. The report highlights that when the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) issues disciplinary recommendations in such cases, they are often ignored. It also looks at problems with communication and training - some of which, the report acknowledges, are already being addressed by the mayor and police commissioner through such efforts as a new training course for all NYPD officers.

The report makes clear that "the death of a Staten Island man, Eric Garner, on July 17, 2014, after he was brought to the ground by an officer's arm around his neck in the course of an arrest, cast a spotlight on the use of chokeholds by NYPD officers and the enforcement of the chokehold prohibition." The report includes suggestions related to consistent discipline, better communication, and more, but as expected, it does not reference Council Member Lancman's bill.

Just days before the report's publication, Lancman told Gotham Gazette that it is time to move forward on police-reform legislation, including his. He said he expects a hearing on his and other NYPD-related bills in the coming weeks, though there is none scheduled at this time. If and when one occurs, it is likely that the IG's report will feature prominently.

On his chokehold bill, Lancman said, "The goal, ultimately,...is not to punish cops or put more cops in jail, it's to deter cops from using this particular maneuver. Because it's so dangerous, because the NYPD itself has said they shouldn't perform it."

"The misconduct is dangerous," Lancman reiterated. And, according to Peters and Eure's report, it is not being punished by the NYPD. "I don't want to tell the police how to do their job," Lancman continued, "but the way that they are doing their jobs is leading to people being killed who shouldn't be killed."

In November, Mayor de Blasio explained his opposition to Lancman's bill: "I think the best way to handle that is through NYPD policy, and what's going to happen is the retraining of the entire police department, on a variety of approaches, including the fact that the chokehold is not an appropriate tool to use. But I've also said publicly, and I'll say it again – there are some exceptional situations, and I want to respect our men and women in uniform who may be put into a life and death situation, literally one-on-one, them and a perpetrator who could literally mean to kill them, and they have to defend themselves – and that might involve a chokehold. And so I don't think it should be made a matter of a legal prohibition, I think it should be handled by department policy."

Lancman counters the mayor's points by saying that not only is the NYPD not appropriately ridding its ranks of chokehold use, but that there is nothing about his bill that could or does override the legal fact that anyone - police officer or not - may use whatever force necessary to defend themselves in a life-or-death situation.

***
by Ben Max, editor, Gotham Gazette
@TweetBenMax

Note: this article has been updated to remove mention of Peters and Eure appearing Monday on the Brian Lehrer Show - they were scheduled to appear, but had to cancel last minute according to Mr. Lehrer.

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics - we're taking you through next Monday, the Martin Luther King Day holiday (we'll publish our next Week Ahead Monday night (the 19th) instead of Sunday):

This week is likely to be dominated by the following three storylines, perhaps among others that will spring up:

• The 2015 legislative session in Albany, with legislators formally in session on Monday and Tuesday. Lawmakers are awaiting Governor Andrew Cuomo's State of the State speech, which was pushed back to Jan. 21 after the death of the governor's father. The Cuomo administration announced a slate of new appointments, promotions, and departures on Sunday as the governor's second term gets going.
• The Mayor and the NYPD: tensions remain high between Mayor Bill de Blasio and police union leadership (and some rank-and-file, to be sure). There has been a bit of a cooling off period of late, but the conversation is sure to heat up again this week - starting with the Monday release of a report on NYPD chokeholds by the office of the new NYPD Inspector General, Philip Eure (it's the office's first report). There will surely be more focus on the NYPD slowdown that has been happening over the past several weeks.
• The special election in New York's 11th Congressional District: Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan will be the Republican candidate in the race to replace Michael Grimm (a date for the special election has yet to be set by the governor) and the Democratic nominee should be determined soon. Donovan's candidacy is certain to keep tensions high around the Eric Garner case - Donovan presented the grand jury case against Policer Officer Daniel Pantaleo, whose chokehold led to Garner's death.
• Bringing these last two items together, watchers are still awaiting word from the NYPD investigation into the conduct of Pantaleo and his fellow officers in the Garner incident. We're also awaiting news from the federal investigation into the case. But, there's no indication news on either of these investigations is coming this week.

Also this week, the city's municipal identification card program is set to officially launch, we'll be watching to see enrollment numbers and what kind of a push the de Blasio administration and partners are making to boost membership, especially of New Yorkers other than the undocumented. Mayor de Blasio starts the week holding a Monday press conference to announce the launch, at which City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito will also speak. The event will be held at the Queens Public Library.

And, there's a New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) filing deadline this week for 2017 candidates for city offices. Always interesting to watch as those filings occur.

For those community groups seeking funding, the City Council's application for discretionary funds in the next fiscal year is up. And, it's a somewhat busy week of hearings at the City Council too, details below.

***Do you have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics? E-mail Gotham Gazette editor Ben Max: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.***

The run of the week in detail:

Monday
Monday is set to see an education-related rally in Albany organized by Alliance for Quality Education (AQE). AQE has been a frequent critic of Gov. Cuomo's education agenda and is putting together Monday's gathering to influence the discussion as legislators begin to consider education bills in the new session. The group says it is pushing for fairness in funding in education and says thousands are expected at Monday's mid-day rally.

On Monday morning, DOI Commissioner Mark Peters and NYPD IG Philip Eure will be on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show discussing the IG office's first-ever report, which deals with chokehold use and punishment in the NYPD.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer begins his week with one public event, according to his public schedule: he'll attend and give remarks at "We Remember Haiti" Monday evening at 1199-SEIU headquarters in Manhattan.

Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito, among others, will be launching the city's municipal ID card program on Monday at the Queens Library. Later on Monday, Mark-Viverito will appear on WABC radio at 5:20 p.m., according to her public schedule.

As we mentioned, the State Legislature is in session Monday and Tuesday this week.

Monday's City Council schedule includes a meeting of the Committee on Transportation to discuss bills relating to "removing the off-street parking requirement for base station licenses;" "prohibiting for hire vehicles from charging excessive rates;" "agreements between livery base stations;" and "allowing the taxi and limousine commission to consider improved trouble lights for use in licensed vehicles."

There'll also be a meeting of the Subcommittee on Senior Centers for an oversight hearing regarding "Examining DFTA's Senior Center RFP Process and Criteria for Subcontracted Senior Center Services."

The City Department of Consumer Affairs is holding a "Public Hearing and Opportunity to Comment on Proposed Rules for Pregnancy Services Center Disclosures" on Monday morning.

On Monday at 5:30 p.m. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer "testifies at Hudson River Park Trust hearing on proposed Pier 54 redevelopment project" at NYU, according to her office.

Also at 5:30 Monday, it's the Queens Borough Board Meeting, led by Queens Borough President Melinda Katz: "The Borough Board is chaired by the Borough President under the New York City Charter and comprised of the borough's City Council members and the chairperson of each Community Board in the borough."

Monday evening will see "Re-envisioning Branch Libraries Design Study Presentations" at the New School. "The School of Media Studies will be hosting Re-envisioning Branch Libraries Design Study Presentations with co-sponosor, Center for an Urban Future and in partnership with Parsons School of Constructed Environments. New York City's 207 branch libraries are serving more New Yorkers in more ways than ever before."

Also Monday evening: "NYC Open Data's Python Machine Learning Class Demo Day...Learn with our NYC Data Science Program (We offered corporate and individual training for more than 40 firms in NYC alone). We offer 12 week immersive program, weekend and weekday night Data Science training."

Tuesday
New York's casino siting panel meets again on Tuesday, perhaps to take up the governor's request to site a fourth casino in the Southern Tier.

Tuesday morning is "Crain's Business Breakfast Forum: Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr.," who will discuss "transformative criminal justice investments he's making"; "New strategies and tools to combat cybercrime"; "How public-private partnerships can fight financial crime and human trafficking" and more.

The New York State Legislature Public Hearing Calendar for Tuesday includes the Assembly Committee on Health's public hearing on "The New York Health bill to create state single payer health coverage."

Tuesday's City Council schedule includes a meeting of the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises to review proposed land use applications; a meeting of the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Uses to review land use applications; a meeting of the Subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions and Concessions to review the land use calendar for the week; and a meeting of the Committee on Environmental Protection to discuss legislation on the "use of biodiesel fuel in the city ferry fleet" and the "use of biodiesel fuel in marine craft owned or operated by the department of environmental protection."

Tuesday morning is the Queens Borough Cabinet Meeting led by Queens BP Katz. "The Borough Cabinet is chaired by the Borough President under the New York City Charter and comprised of the District Managers of each Community Board in the Borough and representatives from city agencies. It focuses on city service delivery and agency responsiveness across the borough and hears presentations on these issues from City officials and others."

On Tuesday evening, "Danielle Allen – "Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality...Join us at Roosevelt House for a special evening exploring the argument — and contemporary meaning — of The Declaration of Independence, the foundational statement of America's commitment to equality.Danielle Allen, author of Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality, discusses her acclaimed book in conversation with Nadine Strossen, former president of the American Civil Liberties Union, and professor of law at New York Law School."

From New York Tech Meet-Up: "NYTM + Silicon Harlem Demo Night @ Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project Summit" on Tuesday. "Join us along with Silicon Harlem at the 18th Annual Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project Economic Summit."

Wednesday
In big education happenings, according to a WNYC report: "Teacher Tenure: oral arguments on whether or not a lawsuit challenging the state's teacher tenure laws can proceed are scheduled for Jan. 14, before a state judge on Staten Island. The case was brought by families who believe their children's right to a sound basic education is being violated by tenure. The teachers unions claim tenure is a guarantee of due process. The suit is modeled after a similar one in California."

Wednesday's City Council schedule includes the Committee on General Welfare holding an oversight hearing on "EarlyLearn NYC" programming.

Including one on Wednesday morning, "The Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) is hosting a series of trainings to help employers understand their responsibilities under the Paid Sick Leave
Law."

On Wednesday, BetaNYC Civic Hacknight in Manhattan: "What is a civic hacknight? This is a weekly project night is for technologists, designers, developers, data scientists, map makers, and activists who are working on "civic technology" projects. Consider this to be a study hall or office hours to improve the city."

Thursday
Thursday morning is the Manhattan Borough Board Meeting, led by Manhattan BP Gale Brewer.

Also Thursday morning: Brooklyn Newsmakers with Commissioner Bratton and Borough President Eric L. Adams: "Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with Hon. Eric L. Adams, Brooklyn Borough President invite you to attend: Breakfast with Police Commissioner of City of New York, William J. Bratton."

Thursday's City Council schedule includes a meeting of the Committee on Finance to review a bill related to "interest rate and discount rate recommendations provided by the NYC Banking Commission" and a meeting of the Committee on Land Use to review "all items reported out of the Subcommittees and such other business as may be necessary."

Thursday is a NYC CFB 2017 filing day deadline; via Twitter: "Attention candidates! Next #NYC2017 #FilingDay deadline is Thursday, 1/15. You can start filing Monday, 1/12."

On Thursday, "the Federal Reserve Banks of New York, Atlanta, Cleveland and Philadelphia will release findings from a joint regional survey on small business credit conditions. The Small Business Credit Survey captures information on the financing decisions and credit experiences of smaller firms in the Northeast. This year, the survey has been expanded to include insights from small businesses – on both the aggregate and state levels – from selected parts of the Southeast and Midwest. The survey was conducted during the fall of 2014."

City Council Member Andy King will host an Open House For 12th District Constituents on Thursday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: "Joining Council Member King will be his staff and representatives from city agencies, who will be available to answer community questions. The open house also celebrates the observance of the birthday of the slain civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."

Thursday evening, "Affordable Housing Crisis - A Community Discussion with City & State Officials and Housing Advocates" including featured speakers "NYS Senators: Velmanette Montgomery & Jesse Hamilton; NYS Assembly Members: James Brennan; Karim Camara; Joseph Lentol; Walter Mosley; Felix Ortiz; Annette Robinson; Jo Anne Simon; Latrice Walker; NYC Council Members: Carlos Menchaca; Robert Cornegy, Jr.; Laurie Cumbo; and Stephen Levin."

From Brooklyn BP Eric Adams, "On Thursday, January 15th, from 6:00 PM until 8:30 PM at the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, located at 85 South Oxford Street, I am joining many of my city and state elected colleagues in hosting a community discussion about our affordable housing crisis. Among the speakers in attendance will be representatives from the New York State Department of Homes and Community Renewal and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, as well as housing advocates. Topics to be discussed include stabilizing our affordable housing supply, addressing our state's expiring rent laws and organizing for action."

Friday and the (long, Martin Luther King Day) weekend
More things are sure to pop up for the end of the week, but so far on our Friday radar, a roundtable on veteran-owned businesses: "New York City is home to thousands of veterans who have selflessly volunteered to serve and protect our fellow Americans from harm, and the city is dedicated to ensuring that they receive the resources they need to succeed. The city recently released a report on veteran entrepreneurship and created several recommendations on how we can better meet the needs of veteran business owners by improving training, outreach, networking, and identification. Please join Mayor's Office for Veterans' Affairs Commissioner Loree Sutton and the Department of Small Business Services Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer for roundtable discussions...to learn more about city's veterans report and give feedback on the report recommendations."

On Sunday, "Presented as part of the Apollo Theater's Uptown Hall series, WNYC brings its annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration uptown. This year's event will explore the 50 years since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. WNYC's Brian Lehrer and MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry will guide us through the past half-century and explore the significant moments leading to today's democratic landscape in America. This year's event will also honor the legacies of the great civil rights leaders who we lost last year: Maya Angelou, Ruby Dee, and Yuri Kochiyama."

And on Monday, a "march for justice" being organized by criminal justice reform groups. See our report for more details.

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Have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics? E-mail Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max any time: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please use "For Week Ahead" as email subject).

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by Rati Mukhuradze and Ben Max
@GothamGazette